Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multi-player gameplay and, in particular, to using dynamic matchmaking population herding to balance the number of players between different gameplay modes.
Description of the Related Art
Computer game systems are popular forms of entertainment that present a virtual world within which a player typically controls an actor, e.g., character, avatar, or entity that interacts with other actors in a simulated environment. When the computer game system supports multi-player games, e.g., an online virtual world, other actors are controlled by other players. Some multi-player games have multiple gameplay modes, e.g., different virtual environments with varying content.
When a new player joins a multi-player game, the new player must wait until a minimum number of other new players also join the multi-player game. Once the minimum number is reached, the new players are asked to vote for a gameplay mode in order to select a particular gameplay mode for all of the new players. Unfortunately, the gameplay mode selected by the majority of the new players may not satisfy all of the new players. Particularly players who prefer to have more influence over selection of the gameplay mode.
Alternatively, each new player may select a particular gameplay mode and a matchmaking processing is initiated that matches the new player to an in-progress game in the particular gameplay mode. When an in-progress game is not available, the new player waits until additional new players select the particular gameplay mode and a new game in the particular gameplay mode is started. Allowing each player to specify his/her gameplay mode typically results in an uneven distribution of the players across the different gameplay modes. When a new player wants to play an unpopular gameplay mode, the matchmaking wait time until a new game starts in the unpopular gameplay mode is longer compared with the matchmaking wait time for joining an in-progress game in a popular gameplay mode. Over time, it becomes increasingly difficult to match new players to start a new game in an unpopular gameplay mode, making the unpopular gameplay modes virtually unplayable. As a result, content developers are discouraged from delivering a wide variety of creative content in the form of different gameplay modes. In order to encourage rich and varied content development for multi-player games, it is desirable to more evenly distribute the players across the different gameplay modes. When the players are more evenly distributed across the different gameplay modes, the typical matchmaking wait time for a new player to join a game will converge for the different gameplay modes.
As the foregoing illustrates, there is a need in the art for an improved technique for evenly balancing the players between the different gameplay modes of a multi-player game. Additionally, it is desirable to allow each individual player specify his/her gameplay mode.